Díaz, head of the Texas Indigenous Council, said he wants to ensure that District 2 residents get adequate representation, which he says is lacking with Taylor.

“At this point, many don’t even know who their City Council person is and feel they’re not properly represented,” Díaz said. “It’s a matter of equality. Being a human rights activist, that’s been my focus for 20 years.”

Infrastructure is the major concern of most District 2 constituents, as is safety and combating crime, Díaz added.

Dr. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, the 2012 Green Party presidential and vice-presidential nominees, have marked the beginning of Earth Week by announcing a new Green Shadow Cabinet that will serve as an independent voice in U.S. politics, putting the needs of people and protection of the planet ahead of profits for big corporations. The Cabinet will operate in the tradition of shadow cabinets in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Mexico, responding to actions of the government in office, and demonstrating that another government is possible.

The Cabinet is organized into six federal branches: Democracy, Economy, Ecology, Foreign Affairs, General Welfare, and Justice. Topics include the economy, environment and climate change, health and general welfare, democratization, rights of workers, wages and labor, community power, closing military bases, ending wars for resources and restoring the rule of law. Among the top priorities will be advocating for full employment through a Green New Deal and confronting climate change and the ecological crisis through a program of creating a carbon-free and nuclear free energy economy.

Public statements from Cabinet members . . .

In honor of the launch of the Green Shadow Cabinet, twenty members of the Cabinet have issued public statements for Earth Week. These are available for republication at http://greenshadowcabinet.us/statements

The Green Shadow Cabinet includes not only scientists and leaders of social change organizations, but also artists and writers. The talented comedian Lee Camp offers this video “statement” on the need for the Cabinet: http://youtu.be/m3zNyEIR-Ww

SAN ANTONIO, TX—Students United for Socioeconomic Justice (SUSJ) will host their second in a series of panel discussions on the state of education and on other important issues in society. SUSJ is a political student organization at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), whose main campaigns have been regarding the privatization of public education—the Occupy Education campaign—and Divest UTSA—a climate justice campaign aimed at divestiture from Big Oil. The panel discussion will highlight the topics of Immigration Reform, Climate Justice, Saving Ethnic Studies, and Occupy Education. The panelists will consist of prominent UTSA student leaders and activists representing various student groups on campus: SUSJ, MASSO, SAIYM, and others. SUSJ organized this event around what they feel as some of the most important issues in society. On April 25, 2013 from 7:30-9:30 pm at the UTSA 1604 Main Campus-Main Building Lecture Hall (MB 0.106), they invite community, students, teachers, faculty, activists, and concerned citizens to what hopes to become an annual tradition.

The topic of Immigration is arguably the most pertinent socioeconomic and human rights issue in society today, as evidenced by recent reform legislation by the Magnificent Eight in Washington D.C., and as such, SUSJ will feature two of UTSA’s brightest students who take up Immigration as their top priority. Also, with the deadline for President Obama to decide on whether to support the Keystone XL pipeline looming and numerous oil spills and energy disasters happening, the time is now to sit down and talk about climate justice.

The students of UTSA are integral parts of a public institution that retain a strong interest in the public good—in line with city and state governments, religious institutions, charity organizations, and non-profit organizations. Most of these institutions invest money in stocks and bonds, and have a responsibility to both divest from an industry that is willingly destroying our future and reinvest those funds in ethical solutions to climate change that are both renewable and sustainable—the notion of social ecology. Even as extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, floods, droughts and fires threaten to overwhelm local budgets, federal inaction to solve this crisis is all but stalled. The extraction, transport, processing, and dependency of fossil fuels has contributed to environmental degradation, human rights violations, and an unsustainable economic model that is driven by profits rather than ethics or regards to the ultimate resource—our natural environment.

Oil, Fracking, and the Environment

In the State of Texas, SUSJ contends that Valero Energy Corporation, Shell Global, British Petroleum, and the oil industry as a whole has taken a stance of blatant disregard for both the well-being of humankind and the world we inhabit. Unfortunately, UTSA has engaged in partnerships with some of these corporations. As such, SUSJ feels a duty to urge UTSA President Ricardo Romo to pledge (in solidarity with other schools and public institutions) to a divestiture campaign, while considering the push for the coveted Tier I status. In regards to our South Texas communities, the introduction of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, to extract natural gas from the Eagle Ford shale deposit not only uses millions of gallons of water per frack job but has been shown to contaminate the water supply of residents living adjacent to the wells. New research and media coverage is emerging suggesting that our beloved aquifers (that we in San Antonio all depend on) are at risk of contamination. Both an overuse and contamination of South Texas’ already dwindling water supply is in blatant disregard of the future of its citizens. SUSJ’s divestiture campaign discusses sustainable courses of action for both UTSA and other public institutions alike through the SUSJ Proposal to Divest.

The State of Texas and the State of Public Education

The state of public education in Texas is under fire. Legislation aimed at redesigning and mainstreaming Texas public educational curricula unrepresentative of the needs of historically marginalized communities across the state. The pursuit of happiness is the American Dream, and access to education and equalizing educational arenas is crucial to this pursuit and success. Frankly, there is a neoliberal and neoconservative war on public education, and more broadly the public sector. The related push to end ethnic studies (most notably Mexican-American Studies, African-American Studies, and Women’s Studies) is yet a new battle in this arena. Further, education is becoming more and more unaffordable. Tuition is rising faster than inflation, students will likely be in debt for life, public funding is decreasing, unemployment is increasing, and minority students are feeling the brunt of cuts to education. Thus, the state of public education will be the focus of the panel discussion, ranging from Saving Ethnic Studies in Texas to the privatization and corporatization of public education.

The SUSJ 2nd Panel Discussion is also being held during Earth Week 2013, and SUSJ has some exciting plans to be announced at the panel discussion. SUSJ supports a green future in San Antonio and UTSA, and, thus the panel is an action in solidarity with real climate justice and sustainability, as well to solidarity actions with real, progressive immigration reform and supporting critical multicultural education found in ethnic studies courses. Finally, the panel serves to highlight the endeavors of local student activists and to thank them for their hard work that goes largely unseen. This is surely both an educational and important event that the community should not miss out on.

Hilsen fra Norge! Greetings from Norway, where we’ve been on an anti-Tar Sands campaign swing with the Norwegian and Finnish Greens! — Facebook

Green Talks conference in Oslo

On Tuesday April 16, prominent Green politicians from USA, Germany and Sweden filled Oslo as Miljøpartiet De Grønne arranged the Green Talks conference. The conference was a great success and bears tidings of intensified international cooperation between Green parties in the years to come… http://europeangreens.eu/news/green-talks-conference-oslo

“We shall raise our voice on behalf of future generations that are robbed of their future.” Jill Stein

We will be marching from Philadelphia to Washington DC. Leaving at 1:00 pm from 3rd and Cumberland on the 18th of May and arriving to The Department of Commerce by the 24th of May to Demand Green Jobs Now! We need Jobs now in order to provide for our families and save our planet!

Join us as poor and unemployed families march everyday and pitch tents along the roadside.

Díaz, head of the Texas Indigenous Council, said he wants to ensure that District 2 residents get adequate representation, which he says is lacking with Taylor.

“At this point, many don’t even know who their City Council person is and feel they’re not properly represented,” Díaz said. “It’s a matter of equality. Being a human rights activist, that’s been my focus for 20 years.”

Infrastructure is the major concern of most District 2 constituents, as is safety and combating crime, Díaz added.

Antonio Diaz, founder & spokesperson of Texas Indigenous Council, works as a cab driver and lives in the heart of the East Side. “I Believe that the working class people have the right to represent and direct their government. I will have a true open door policy for all constituents.”

What improvements do YOU want for your community?

Contact by phone 210-542-9271 or Antonio Diaz for City Council @ Facebook

Achievements through persistence

By Marissa Villa, Staff Writer

…For other young activists, such persistence is a lesson learned early.

“Compassion is a huge part of (activism) but you have to have a spine, because people are going to try to knock you down left and right,” says Nansi Singh, 27, an environmental activist involved with Energía Mía and Students United for Socioeconomic Justice at UTSA.

For most, the passion to change what they see as an injustice starts when they learn something new — in high school or early on in college.

“The more we learned in school of all the things going on in the world, with labor rights violations, women’s rights violations and how globalization hurts the have-nots to profit the people who are rich, both my husband and I felt that we needed to do something,” says Rachell M. Tucker, an anthropology major at UTSA also involved in SUSJ.

That organization was born out of the Occupy San Antonio movement, and although small — Tucker says there are about five active members at any given time — its members are persistent.

UPDATE: Sunday, 3 pm – Doug is free! Here’s what he had to say about his action after getting out of jail:

“It appears that my career as a golf ‘Standard Bearer’ has been cut short. On the bright side, my journey with non-violent direct action is picking up speed! I really hope that people look at what Valero is doing to the community of Manchester in Houston, TX. What is happening to Manchester shows the Valero corporation’s utter disregard for human life in their quest for more and more money. In addition, Valero is preparing to refine tar sands shipped in from Canada using the Keystone XL pipeline as a conduit, additionally showing their contempt for life on Earth. I hope that this action has inspired people to act when they see injustice, and that direct action can mean many different things. So for now, I say farewell to the fairways and putting greens, and look forward to upcoming actions on the Keystone XL pipeline easement.” – Doug Fahlbusch